FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT GLOBAL OPERATIONS - PAGE 3

NEW DELHI: IKEA cannot use its global procurement of products to satisfy the Indian demand of mandatory sourcing from the country, a government department has said, giving a signal to the Swedish retailer that India does not intend to whittle down its policy for global retailers planning to set up shop. Many global retailers have been lobbying the government to consider exports they undertake out of India for their global operations to fulfill the 30% local sourcing conditions for their single-brand retailing ventures here.

NEW DELHI: As many as 250 top executives of UK-based GSK Consumer Healthcare , led by its President Emma Walmsley, will fly down to Delhi in early February for an annual leadership meet, its first such conclave outside the UK and US, throwing the spotlight on India's emergence as one of the fastest-growing consumer markets of the world. In the past few years, several transnational companies ranging from GE to PepsiCo to Nestle have held executive committee or board meetings in India, but this is the first time a foreign firm is bringing such a large contingent of managers to the country.

BEIJING: Chinese mobile internet browser company UCWeb will invest $170 million (or Rs 940 crore approx) in expanding global operations, bulk of which is being deployed in India to build a robust mobile internet ecosystem , chairman & CEO Yu Yongfu told ET on the sidelines of the recent Global Mobile Internet Conference ( GMIC ) in Beijing. "India is our largest overseas market where investment will be maximised by ramping up headcount, creating start-up teams and working with droves of local mobile game/app developers like we have done in China," said the UCWeb global CEO. By end-2014, UCWeb's India employee count is projected to exceed 100; 85% of these will be Indian nationals.

KOLKATA: Bharti Airtel will shortly name PD Sarma as the new managing director of its Bangladesh subsidiary at a time when the telecom operator is aiming to drive data growth in the country. Sarma, who is currently hub chief executive of the company's mobile operations across West Bengal, Kolkata, Odisha, Assam and Northeast circles, will directly report to Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal, a company executive said. At Airtel Bangladesh, he will replace Chris Tobit , who is slated to return to Bharti Airtel India in a leadership role that will be finalised shortly.

MUMBAI: Budget carrier AirAsia India, which is looking to launch operations in the country later this year, will add 10 aircraft annually and focus operations on the country's under-utilised airports as part of its expansion plans, senior officials of the company said. AirAsia India, a joint venture between the AirAsia, Tata Group and Telestra Tradeplace has also decided to focus currently on the markets in South India before expanding operations in the rest of the country.

NEW DELHI: US-based coffee giant Starbucks is fine tuning its plans to set up stores in the country in partnership with Tata Coffee and the two parties are likely to announce the blueprint by the end of this month. "We are on the verge of signing the contract. We will announce the alliance by the end of this month and are working on final modalities of the agreement," Tata Coffee Managing Director Hameed Huq told reporters here on the sidelines of an event.

MUMBAI: Home-grown express courier company DTDC, which has done a string of global acquisitions and tie- ups, aims to increase the share of revenues from the high margin international operations to 18 per cent in the next two years, a top official of the company said. "We are at 12 per cent at present, and the share should rise to 17-18 per cent in two years.... " DTDC Executive Director Abhishek Chakraborty told PTI here. The margins from the international operations are higher than the domestic ones, he said.

BANGALORE: The Indian recruitment arm of global firm Hays has decided to shut down operations partially in India. The London-headquartered recruitment and human service provider entered the country nearly six years ago. It opened its back office in NCR and its industry-specific hiring business in 2009. "We have closed our specialist recruiting businesses in Mumbai and Delhi. We will continue to recruit in the Indian market for our global clients with specific requirements and this will be managed by experts from our other global offices," said Chris Greaves , managing director for the Gulf region and India, in an email.

NEW DELHI: American garment retailer Gap Inc. is set to open its stores in India early next year. The company is close to signing a franchisee deal which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks, people familiar with the development told ET. Gap has almost sealed the deal with Ahmedabad-based textile conglomerate Arvind Ltd to open its branded stores in India, a person privy to the talks between the two companies said. "It is more or less a done deal and will be announced in a week or ten days," said the person, who did not wish to be identified.

NEW YORK: Beverages major Pepsico on Tuesday said Hugh Johnston will takeover as its chief financial officer by the end of this month. Currently serving as the executive vice-president of Pepsico's global operations, Johnston has been associated with the company for over 20 years. Johnston would be succeeding Richard Goodman as the CFO at the end of this month, Pepsico said in a statement. "Hugh is a highly capable executive with broad financial and operating experience and a deep understanding of our businesses," PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi said.